


Read between the lines

by SlytherinLady



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 04:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6784390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinLady/pseuds/SlytherinLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki and Tony's relationship is unravelled through Natasha's eyes, as the Black Widow rushes, alongside the former to save Tony from Kingpin's clutches.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>"Reading between the lines of Tony's words, she heard the story of two broken men finding comfort in each other's pain and chaos.  A few months in, Loki started coming and going more often, to talk about things that had nothing to do with world domination and destruction- what it truly was these two would talk about, Natasha could only guess. By the looks of it, Tony was becoming an expert in all things Loki, but he wasn't going to let any of that on."</i></p><p> </p><p>  <b>Frostiron. Featuring a baffled Natasha and a pissed off Clint.</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	Read between the lines

Loki's inhibitions about his naturally blue skin appeared to have been gone, as he stood among the Kingpin's goons; Natasha hadn't gotten the chance to check if any of them were still alive.  
His arms were wrapped around Tony, holding him softly as if he worried the man would break apart in his hands. The terrifying, vengeful creature he was just a few moments ago had just abruptly been turned into a shaking mess, as he was struggling to contain his powers and emotions. 

Tony pressed his thumbs on Loki's temples softly and touched his forehead on the god's. "It's fine... I'm fine..." he whispered.

The bandages covering both of his arms completely should suggest otherwise, but that wasn't something Natasha planned to point out at the moment.

"Your arms... what did they do to you?!" his voice was breaking.  
"Nothing you won't heal anyway as soon as we get home..." Tony responded in a calm voice. 

He didn't flinch as Loki grabbed his wrists abruptly, examining the bloody bandages closely. Certain that Tony was the one that had Loki's complete and undivided attention, Natasha started carefully moving in the room, checking if the frozen bodies on the floor had any pulse. 

"Baby... it's freezing in here..." Tony spoke, voicing her own thoughts as well.  
Well, minus the "baby" part anyway.

"I can't help it..." he responded absentmindedly, already picking at the bandages tightly wrapped around Tony to examine the damage himself.  
It wasn't long before the temperature in the room started rising. 

 

Loki cursed in what Natasha guessed was Old Norse as he finally got rid of Tony's bandages. His arms were covered in dried blood and bad stitches.  
Green light surrounded both men- she thought she heard Tony's voice one more time and if Loki's hiss was any indication, he must have complained about the sudden use of healing magic. 

 

As she examined the final fallen goon, she stood up, leaning with her back against the wall and observed the unlikely lovers, as Loki burried his face in Tony's neck and the latter was stroking his hair. 

This was going to be one of those nights she would forever wonder if they really happened.

 

She had noticed Loki coming and going from the Avengers mansion and rather unlike Clint, who would dream of shooting an arrow that would go straight through Tony's head and into Loki's, she had decided to closely observe the situation before jumping on the assumption that Tony was planning something with their once enemy. After JARVIS obviously discovered her hiding nearby and observing the surprisingly intimate conversation between Tony and Loki, she was essentially forced to confess to Tony she knew about their late-night meetings.  
Unsurprisingly, Tony was not eager to explain, but for reasons rather different than Natasha had expected. Turns out Loki had decided to show up in the mansion one night, asking for that drink Tony had once promised him. Why hadn't Tony attacked, she wondered. Because he was a mess that night- and he couldn't care less what would happen to him.  
Besides, Loki's boldness was rather admirable.

Reading between the lines of Tony's words, she heard the story of two broken men finding comfort in each other's pain and chaos. A few months in, Loki started coming and going more often, to talk about things that had nothing to do with world domination and destruction- what it truly was these two would talk about, Natasha could only guess. By the looks of it, Tony was becoming an expert in all things Loki, but he wasn't going to let any of that on. 

"I still don't see how this story ends up with you two fucking..."  
When she quite clearly did...  
"We're not fucking..."  
He sounded cold and offended.

She mentioned words like "criminal", "terrorist", "killer" and was terrified to see he hadn't forgotten... but was still willing to look past it.

Willfully blind? Crazy in love? Destructive and scared?  
She hated being unable to tell.

"How can you agree to this?" she had asked JARVIS before leaving Tony's room that night, after promising to keep the secret and finding it in her to keep the promise, as long as Loki maintained that he did no longer pose a threat for Earth.  
"Mr Stark needs him..." 

Clint asked her what could possibly had taken her so long.  
"I got caught..."  
"And?" big curious eyes stared at her.  
"I think it's time to move realms- Tony's crazy about him."  
The answer surprised her.  
"I'm willing to bet it's also the other way round..."

It was over a month later when Natasha finally saw Clint and Tony laughing and drinking together again. She was dumbfounded to find out the trickster god had visited Clint one too many times to make sure that even if he couldn't fix the situation between them, Clint would not be mad at Tony.  
Was this a very well-thought game? Or worse- did Loki actually care?

"Did you put an arrow through his eye?" she had asked the archer with a smile.  
"I promised I will one day..."

 

She was in the midst of convincing herself this was a crazy fever dream when she got the call from Tony's digital buttler that night, informing her that Tony had gone missing. She made it back to the Avengers Mansion to a JARVIS that had -surprise, surprise- already located Tony.  
What she hadn't expected to see, was the visibly upset Loki... and the complete lack of SHIELD agents.

"Mixing SHIELD and Mr Silvertongue is extremely unwise" the AI had claimed.  
"Which is why we will keep Mr Silvertongue away and call SHIELD..."

Against her best insticts, she could sit there and argue even after Loki's homicidal looks and JARVIS's explanations about how involving SHIELD would put Tony in more danger- the man that had captured Tony would be expecting SHIELD agents, maybe even Avengers, but certainly not Loki. Seeing as how Tony's safety was on the line and how sadly, JARVIS made a fair point, she had to convince herself within mere minutes to work with the evil-alien-almost-overlord. 

She was soon fighting right by his side, watching green flashes of magic attacking mortal enemies, test subjects and sad villains who assumed their variety of powers were good enough to take Loki or the Black Widow down. 

 

"Please tell me SHIELD is not on its way..."

As she got dragged out of her thoughts, Natasha gifted Tony a small smile. "JARVIS made sure to keep it a secret, for now... What on earth happened to your arms?"  
"Remember how I'm supposed to be able to summon my suit thanks to the censors under my skin?"  
Natasha grimaced. "Please tell me one of those idiots on the floor was actually a doctor."

Tony shrugged, avoiding to look at the people on the floor. "Fuck me if I know..."

"Any idea where the Kingpin might be?" she asked, her trained eyes examining the room for cameras or indications of bugs.  
"You wouldn't expect him to be here..." Tony raised an eyebrow.

She simply nodded, looking at what looked like the skeleton of a machinegun resting on a table behind Tony, next to a pile of tools. "What on earth did he have you make...?"  
"We'll worry about that later. Get the sketches and blueprints underneath it and let's go..."  
"Perhaps we could wait for this... Kingpin..." 

The vicious tone of his voice almost reminded her of the Loki that had tried to take over her world. The difference was that this Loki sounded far more... real.

"He's not coming back anytime soon, baby... He was supposed to return in a week- which was also coincidentally my deadline for this weapon. We could always try to locate him... but either way, right now, I just want to get out of here." 

 

Judging by the look on the crimson eyes, he didn't have to ask twice. 

 

~/~

 

"Where are the rest of the Avengers, anyway?"

His voice was a whisper as he wanted to make sure not to disturb Tony who had just managed to fall asleep.

"Steve and Clint are in a classified mission in Europe, Bruce went into hiding yet again and Thor-"  
"I think I figured why Thor is not here, thank you..."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Loki's sudden defensive tone at the mention of his stepbrother. 

"The Kingpin is a powerful man... with powerful allies. The sole reason we managed to get through this time is because they didn't expect you. If he-"  
"I could not care less about his allies, Widow."

Had she underestimated her own deductive skills, or was Loki just completely forward with his worry over Tony?  
Or was that, perhaps, the plan?

"I'd love to see anyone try to get in my way..."

There was an ominous gleam in the green eyes. Funny how Loki had needed to make sure Stark was safe before remembering to cover the blue form he so despised according to Thor.

"What are you going to tell SHIELD about this?"  
"I already sent a team to take the survivors in... Fury demanded an explanation. I will come up with something..." 

Loki nodded and looked at Tony above his shoulder, as he was muttering in his sleep.

"Now, if you will excuse me..."

 

Natasha and Loki had made an incredibly good team that night. The powerful god who seemed to be capable of taking out enemies with a simple move of his fingers did not underestimate her for a moment, or interfere with her fighting.  
And yet at this moment, he seemed like he was completely dismissing the memory of this tragicomic journey altogether.

She made a good team with a man who had tried to enslave the whole human race less than two years ago. A thought as exciting as terrifying.

"I can't help wondering..." her voice trailed off.

Their eyes met.

"How does one completely forget everything that you have done in favor of your pretty eyes?"

He smirked. "You still think I'm playing a game, don't you little spider?"

She stared at him silently, not wanting to admit that not even she knew what was going on right in front of her eyes. 

"Well then... when you discover said game, you're free to call me out on it." 

Taking the challenge, she nodded as Loki walked slowly backwards inside Tony's room, refusing to turn his back on her. His gleaming emerald eyes were her last image before he shut the door. 

 

Was she really supposed to trust him with the traumatised Avenger, all alone? Even if Tony himself had done so, many times?

Neither of them were leaving the mansion that night...

 

She walked away, Loki's green eyes still stuck in her mind.


End file.
